Facilitators

Luzia Embodying Womanhood is the newest expression of my life’s work as a medicine woman. Through my clinical practice, formerly Psycho-Spiritual Integration, now called Integrating Spirit. My eyes and heart were opened to the sincere yearning and necessity my female clients expressed for Rites of Passage. As a pastoral counselor and an initiated woman, I realized that this is not an event, it is a process that merits deep consideration and guidance on all levels. Within my reflections, a form began to emerge, a journey around the medicine wheel and the recreating of ourselves in each direction. The ideas for this program have been percolating in my consciousness for a few years. Suddenly, six months after my 60th birthday, the spirit of Embodying Womanhood took me over and moved me into action. I feel blessed that so many wonderful, talented and accomplished women, friends, colleagues, and God-daughters have joined me and are bringing their gifts to this program. I believe the process of Self Realization, through Initiation, provides us with the mental, emotional, and spiritual resources we need to become well balanced, productive and creative members of the society we live in; and enables us to serve more fully our Mother Earth and the Creator we pray to.

My Integrating Spirit work includes Pastoral Counseling, Bio-energetic Analysis, Amazonian Flower Remedies and B.R.E.T.H work for individuals, including children, adolescents, and couples. I offer personal retreats at my home and temple in Felton, California, for individuals, couples and small groups. These retreats are self-designed and reflect the needs and desires of the participants.

I also offer “Encounters with the Divine”, a 2-4 day residential workshop that includes plant spirit medicine rituals, B.R.E.T.H work, bodywork and group sharing. I am co-creator of “Circles of Light, Self-realization Work,” a ritual based in the Santo Daime tradition and “Daime Therapy” which are individual Diame sessions combining medicine work, intention, and prayer. For more information on my life and work, please visit my website: www.integrating-spirit.com.

Julia Onnie-Hay is a certified herbalist, holistic health counselor and

yoga teacher on a mission to reconnect people to the healing forces of plants. Before diving deep into her study of herbs, she earned a B.A. in cultural anthropology from New College of Florida in 2005 and a graduate certificate in holistic health counseling from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in 2008.

Julia has studied folk healing traditions in the Peruvian Amazon, Ghana, Jamaica, and throughout the United States, including the Big Island of Hawai’i, northern California, and North Carolina. She earned her certification as a Family Herbalist from the Florida School of Holistic Living in 2012 and is a lifelong student of herbalist elders and the plants themselves. She’s a coordinator and a teacher for the South Florida branch of the Florida School of Holistic Living and is a founding member of the South Florida Herbal Community. Last year, she earned her 200-hour yoga certification from 305 Yoga & Outreach and became a certified Curvy Yoga teacher. Julia combines her love for yoga and herbs with her Plant-Spirit Medicine Yoga practice.

In addition to her work and studies with plants and yoga, Julia is a full-time nonprofit program administrator with a decade of professional experience in wellness policy, the out-of-school time (OST) field,  leadership development (youth and adult), food justice issues, and drug policy reform. Julia also holds certifications in permaculture design, teaching yoga to at-risk youth, and as a birth doula. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and on the small island of Salt Cay in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Julia is based in Miami, Florida at the Earth ‘n’ Us Farm in the Little Haiti neighborhood. Lately, she’s really into working with wildcrafted Florida flower essences, making tinctures with tropical medicinal weeds found around the urban farm where she lives and singings hymns to the Atlantic Ocean. For more information please visit my website: www.blessbotanicals.weebly.com

 

 

Carmela Woll is a native of California and a 2017 Initiate of Embodying Womanhood (formerly Adult Girls Into Women). Her first career after obtaining her Master’s degree in Marine Science was as a math and science teacher. Combining that teaching experience with her passion for dance, in 1997, she co-founded, directed, and taught at Motion Pacific Dance Studio in Santa Cruz, CA. Since then she has studied and performed many types of dance with particularly Hip Hop, Belly Dance, and Odissi (a Classical Indian form).

In 2002, Carmela entered law school at Santa Clara University and, in 2005, graduated and passed the California Bar Exam. At that point, her dancing transformed exclusively into her hobby and joy instead of a profession. She worked as an attorney and Civil Rights Investigator until her recent retirement to New Mexico in 2022. In addition, Carmela has spent many years as a spiritual practitioner of Buddhism, a student of Plant Medicine traditions

(Shamanic and Santo Daime), and since 2017 has been a Pipe Carrier in the lineage of the Ollintlahuimetzli Moon Dance tradition (Teotihuacan, Mexico). Since 2018 Carmela has been a member of the Threshold Choir, a non-profit organization that offers bedside singing to those at the thresholds of life.

Verena was born and raised in Guatemala and now resides in Kelowna, BC, Canada, with her husband and three children. She is an initiate of Embodying Womanhood 2023/24, a transformative experience that fostered profound personal growth and development.

As a Registered Dietitian, Verena holds a bachelor’s degree in Food, Nutrition, and Health from the University of British Columbia, along with certifications in Functional and Integrative Medicine, Fertility Nutrition, Female Sports Nutrition, and Oncology Nutrition. Verena takes a holistic approach to health, focusing on uncovering and addressing the root causes of health challenges. She specializes in managing complex, chronic conditions, including cancer, digestive disorders, hormonal imbalances, and inflammatory conditions. Verena works at the BC Cancer Agency and operates a private practice, Nutritional Rhythms.

A passionate advocate for women’s empowerment, she is committed to helping women understand their bodies and take control of their health. Her comprehensive approach goes beyond nutrition to include vital aspects of well-being, such as sleep, stress management, movement, sexuality, community connections, and menstrual cycle awareness.

Menstrual cycle awareness is a core pillar of Verena’s life and practice. She teaches women to use their cycles as a powerful tool for self-discovery, growth, and insight. Through understanding their hormonal rhythms, women gain wisdom about their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual states, allowing them to connect deeply with their inner selves and make empowered decisions about their health and well-being. Verena believes this practice is foundational to achieving balance and living authentically.

Verena’s ultimate goal is to help women awaken their natural healing abilities and inner wisdom. She is deeply honored to co-facilitate the next cohort of Embodying Womanhood and looks forward to contributing to the participants’ growth and empowerment.

Dr. Kathryn Dusseau Kloos is a board-certified Naturopathic primary care physician, herbalist and licensed massage therapist. She graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science at Bastyr University’s first-ever Herbal Science degree in 2003. As a licensed massage therapist, she has over 10 years of experience in treating musculoskeletal conditions using myofascial massage, deep tissue, and intuitive energy work.

Her deep reverence for nature and sincere desire to learn herbal medicine led her to South America where she spent 6 months experiencing the traditional healing practices of Chilean indigenous healers and Amazonian folk healers. Witnessing the extraordinary healing power of nature-inspired Kathryn to pursue further training as a naturopathic physician. She graduated from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon with special interests in physical medicine, women’s health, and pediatrics. Her practice focuses on strengthening overall health through nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, massage/bodywork, Holistic Pelvic Care™ and lifestyle counseling.

At home, Kathryn is nourished by her vivacious two sons who constantly remind her about the magic of life.  She is also nourished by a good community, and her husband’s support and commitment to his work as an herbal educator and founder of The School of Forest Medicine. Their combined mission is to help people regain their health by connecting to the healing that nature has to provide.

Monique Andrette Mccomas  I am indigenous Mexico Yaqui tribe

deer people, Spanish, African senegalese, when I was a young girl my mother passed and my father and myself were adopted by Aloysius and Bernice Tail, 5 generations full-blood Lakota Sundancers on the Pine Ridge reservation, in South Dakota. I am a Sundancer and carry the sacred Chanupa, so I am of service to the world to help all who are in need. My spiritual beliefs are the White Buffalo Calf woman’s, sacred Chanupa and the 7 ceremonies. Inipi and Hanbleceya are the 2 ceremonies I was gifted to do for my family and community. I pour water for the sacred Inipi purification ceremony and a spiritual midwife. I mentor for a class of girls called “SHE’S ALL THAT,” an empowerment class and rights of passage, my mission is to share and support them to being fully who they are. I love to do ceremony, it’s what feeds my spirit, I live a good life. My commitment to Omitakuye Oyasin, all my relations is to be of service for the betterment of our world, look forward to this beautiful life and sharing it with all of you.